1st June 2007 is D-Day for the introduction of the Government’s Home Information Pack Scheme. This is the most dramatic change to the home buying process for many years. In less than 20 weeks time you will not be able to put your house or flat on the market unless a Home Information Pack (HIP) has been prepared.

A HIP is a pack of useful information and documents about a property including the title deeds, search results, details of works carried out including guarantee certificates and a new document called an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).

By ensuring that all relevant information on a property is available at the outset,
the intention is to shorten the time it takes to get from offer stage to exchange and completion of the sale and reduce the number of transactions that fall through wasting costs and time for both seller and buyer.

Here at Coles Miller, we will be able to provide you with a quality, professional pack prepared by local tried and tested experts who know the area we live and work in. The pack you request will be delivered to you without delay and will be available in a variety of different formats for you to choose from. It will be fully portable ie. it will be belong to you, the seller, and so can be moved from one estate agent to another.

“Larger estate agent chains are likely to offer a ‘free’ HIP,” states Fiona Knight, Head of Coles Miller’s Residential Conveyancing Department. “However, anyone who uses them is likely to be tied into selling with that estate agent, making it difficult to change to another estate agent if you are not satisfied with the service being offered or paying for a second HIP before you market with another estate agent.”

“Unlike other HIP providers, we can also undertake the conveyancing process. By involving two separate parties, one to prepare the pack and one to do the conveyancing, the benefits of having a HIP are lost due to an inevitable increase of time and costs.

“Our network of three offices in Poole, Bournemouth and Broadstone deal with close to two thousand conveyancing transactions each year making us one of the leading conveyancing practices in the area.”

As a forward thinking practice, Coles Miller will be keeping its clients and contacts fully updated as to the final run in for the introduction of HIPs over the next few months.

If you would like Coles Miller’s free Home Information Pack leaflet to give you useful information and advice about being ready for the introduction of HIPs, please contact Karen Hill on 01202 338855 or email khill@coles-miller.co.uk.